desert duel. rick santorum takes fire from all sides and what may be the final gop presidential debate. >> while i was fighting to save the olympic, you were fighting to save the bridge to delaware. >> i suspect you would have supported earmarks if you were in the united states senate. >> journalist killed, an american war correspondent loses her life covering the government crackdown in syria. >> this story and getting it out and getting the truth out about everything was her life. >> and guilty verdict. a jury convicts a former university of virginia lacrosse player in the murder of his university of virginia lacrosse player in the murder of his ex-girlfriend. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, february 23rd, 2012.

good morning everybody. thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. we begin with the latest republican presidential debate. this one with in arizona and followed a now familiar formula. pile on the front-runner. last night it was the surging rick santorum taking the heat. there were some testy exchanges between santorum and mitt romney in the final debate before next week's critical michigan and arizona primary. susan mcginnis is in washington with more. good morning, susan. >> good morning, betty. this was the most combative and the most pivotal of all the gop debate so far. it puts rick santorum, who had this recent surge, ahead in the national polls, in the spotlight and on the defensive. rick santorum spent much of last night's republican debate in arizona defending himself. >> you don't know what you're talking about. >> the former pennsylvania senator is in a high stakes battle with mitt romney for front runner status. he sparred with romney over earmarks. >> while i was fighting to save the olympic, you were fighting to save the bridge to delaware. >> it wasn't only romney going

after santorum. >> he's a fake. >> ron paul argued santorum is not a true conservative. >> this idea of being fiscally conservative now that we're running for office and we're going to repeal something that we did before, i mean, it loses credibility. >> the crowd booed santorum more than once, including when he tried to defend his vote for the no child left behind education bill. >> it was against the principles i believed in. sometimes you take one for the people for the leader. i made a mistake. santorum -- not for the auto industry. >> when it came to the auto workers and the folks in detroit, he said no. i believe in markets, not just when they're convenient for me. >> romney argued he supported a managed -- >> no way would we allow the auto industry in america to totally implode and disappear. >> newt gingrich focused on the president, including this swipe at how he handled the bailout. >> you had an unprecedented vie

lafgs 200 years of bankruptcy law to pay off the uaw. >> last night could be the last chance for the voters to see the candidates face to face before the next round of nominating contests. if there's one thing we've learned so far, it's that this is a race that can change on a dime. and betty, last night showed there's still a long way to go. >> indeed. susan mcginnis in washington this morning. thank you, susan. an associated press poll released yesterday shows any of the four contenders would lose to president obama and that voters are more optimistic about the economy. 48% of those asked approve of how the president is handling the economy. that's a 9% increase from december. but 58% disapprove of his handling of the rise in gas prices. the governor of virginia has a backed away from a controversial abortion bill. that bill required women to undergo an invasive ultrasound before having an abortion. soon after, governor bob

mcdonald shifted his position and amended the bill to require only an external ultrasound. the measure now heads to the senate. in washington state, a federal judge ruled against a law requiring drug stores to dispense emergency contraceptives. the medication is often referred to by its brand name, plan b. some pharmacists say it violates their religious rights bau it's the same as an abortion. the ruling only applies to washington state, the state is still studying that ruling. this morning the taliban weighed in on the burning of islamic holy book at a nato base in afghanistan. the taliban urged afghans to beat, kill and capture westerners. the burnings triggered violent protests across the country. seven people were killed yesterday. the u.s. says the book burnings were accidental. there were a series of deadly apparently sectarian motivated attacks in the iraqi capital of baghdad this morning.

a string of car bombings and shootings left at least 50 people dead. and the worst attack, a bomb he can ploeded in baghdad's shopping center, killing nine people. at least eight other bombs exploded. there were assaults and bombings elsewhere in iraq. now syria and the bloody crackdown against protesters. the united nations is planning to send to -- the regime of bashar assad accepted up its campaign to crush the rebellion. activists say more than 70 people were killed across the country wednesday and more than 7,000 since the uprising began merely a year ago. among the victims wednesday, two western journalists, including an american. marie colvin. the 56-year-old colvin was covering the rebellion for britain's sunday times. she and a french photojournalist were killed in the rebel stronghold of homs, a city that's been under constant bombardment for close to three

weeks. just a day before her death, colvin was on television calling the crackdown relentless and shocking. >> i think the sickening thing is the complete merciless nature. they're hitting civilian building. >> colvin was a veteran war correspondent. she lost her left eye covering a conflict in 2001. her final dispatch was sent from the basement of a shelter for women and children in homs. colvin's family in new york said she was preparing to leave syria on the day she was killed. her editor at the paper broke the tragic news to them. >> he wanted her to come out because it had gotten too dangerous and she said she was on a very important story. >> the white house reacted, saying colvin's death highlights the brutality of the assad regime. >> a reminder of the incredible risks that journalists take. the french photojournalist and colvin were killed to bring the

truth about what's happening in syria to those of you at home an countries around the world. >> and that, colvin's mother said, is what meant so much to her daughter. >> the story and getting it out and getting the truth about everything was her life. >> marie colvin covered conflicts in the balk ins, chechnya and was one of the last journalists to interview moammar gadhafi before he was killed last october. former university of virginia lacrosse player george huguely will be sentenced for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. a jury found him guilty of second degree murder yesterday and recommended a 26-year prison term. he killed yeardley love in a drunken jealous rage. police say the shooting of an eight-year-old girl at a washington state elementary school was an accident. the girl who is in critical condition this morning was shot at the school in bremerton, about 20 miles west of seattle

yesterday afternoon. police say a third grade boy brought a loaded gun to school and it went off while still in his backpack. the school will reopen today, but parents want answers. >> i don't even want my kids coming back here tomorrow. because it's obviously not safe. this is one of our smaller schools with cameras everywhere. you think it's one of the secure ones. but i don't know. >> the boy who brought the gun is in detention under investigation for unlawful possession of a gun. congress is being warned to watch out for a threatening letters containing a white powdery substance. so far, fewer than ten have been received but cbs news has learned the author claims to have sent 100 letters to all u.s. senators and 10% of them contain a lethal pathogen. the fbi says preliminary tests show the substance is not hazardous. coming up on the morning news, rising home sales offer a glimmer of hope in a turn around for the housing market. this is the "cbs morning news." nyquil (stuffy): hey, tylenol. you know we're kinda like twins.

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high winds knocked down power lines in colorado yesterday sparking at least two fires and leaving more than 33,000 people in the dark. arriving flights at the denver airport were delayed an hour and a half. 20 million tons of debris from the deadly tsunami that leveled japan last march is headed for hawaii. new data from the international pacific research center maps the debris as it spreads into the pacific. they estimate it's 2,000 long and a thousand miles wide. it could touch the west coast in another year or two. on the cbs "moneywatch," the white house makes a pitch for online consumer protection and holy smokes, batman, some rare comics nab big prices. ashley morrison is here in new york with that and more. good morning, ashley. >> good morning to you, betty. president obama wants to see an online privacy bill of rights for consumers. the white house unveiled the proposal early this morning.

it calls on technology companies and consumer groups to work together in crafting protections. the proposal comes as more and more companies are collecting and using information from their users. checking overseas stocks, markets in asia were mixed. the nikkei gained half a percent and the hang seng lost more than .75%. there was no flirting with 13,000 on wall street wednesday. the dow broke a four-day winning streak to finish down 27 points while the nasdaq slipped 15. today we'll get earnings reports from target and kohl's. investors want to know how well they're competing with walmart and amazon. hewlett-packard's earnings declined. the net income fell 44% and revenue slipped. hewlett-packard is the largest maker of pc's. new signs of improvement in

the housing market. sales have risen nearly 13% over the past six months. the supply of homes on the market are also the lowest level since 2005. and a pile of hundred of old comic books brought back a king's ransom at an auction wednesday. they sold for $3.5 million. the comics include, the first appearances of batman and superman. the books belong to a virginia man who died in 1994. his great nephew found them when he was cleaning out his house. betty, i'm lucky if i find the match to an old pair of socks. >> if i find a dime. how does that happen? why can't we find something like that? >> i know, right. >> wow. okay. cashing in. ashley morrison here in new york. thank you. straight ahead, your thursday morning weather and in sports, the lin tense at this is back as jeremy lin and the new york nix take on the atlanta hawks. ready or not, here i come!

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though, in the south. dry and warm. and strong winds will blow through the northwest with gusts reaching 70 miles an hour in parts of colorado and wyoming. sanity, the knicks' jeremy lin had another great night. the harvard grad scored 17. had a pass to carmelo anthony in the third. in the fourth, j.r. smith takes the alley oop pass to put the knicks up by 27. new york rolled by atlanta 99-82. a blowout in oklahoma. an easy score in the third. the thunder get a lead by the celtic. westbrook force in 31 to help oklahoma trounce boston, 119-104. this is their 11th straight win at home. in college hoops, south florida almost stopped second ranked syracuse. after trailing by 14 points the bulls got within one of the orange. but scoop jar dean goes high off

the glass to keep them on top. he finishes with 15 points. the orange squeeze out the win over south florida, 56-48. in the big 10, minnesota thought they had this one. the gophers had a nice lead in the first half. but a bad foul in the second half put the spartans on the line and a two and two free-throws later, they had the lead. number 6 michigan state holds on to beat minnesota, 66-61. when we return, new hope for people struggling with obesity. the first new weight loss drug in more than a decade is headed for approval. it feels totally different from a regular toothpaste. pronamel iso-active is a toothpaste in a can. the gel transforms into a foam and surrounds your teeth. pronamel iso-active helps protect against the effects of acid erosion. ♪ vegetables picked at their peak ♪ ♪ so fresh my knees grow weak [ male announcer ] new hearty bertolli meal soup for two, with crisp vegetables and tender chicken. [ chef ] ♪ fresh tasting restaurant style ♪

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here's a look at today's forecast for some cities around the country. washington, d.c., partly sunny, 68. atlanta, warmer, 75. detroit, rain and snow, 40. denver, morning snow there, 36. seattle, partly sunny, 47. a runaway train in argentina

killed 49 people and injured more than 600. the commuter train was packed during yesterday's morning rush hour. survivors say the conductor was having trouble with the brakes. the train raced past the platform after platform before plowing into a station in buenos heiress. eight more bodies found in the wreckage of the costa concordia. divers discovered the bodies yesterday, including a missing five-year-old italian girl. three were removed. but bad weather forced them to stop. they hope to resume the operation today. the cruise ship capsized on january 13th, killing 32 people. a new anti-obesity pill may hit the market soon. a panel of advisers for the food and drug administration took a second look at the weight loss drug qnexa and approved it yesterday. the fda's final decision is not expected until april. randall pinkston, reports. >> mayor yell tried every diet

but could not lose weight. >> family and friends are convinced that i must have been doing something wrong because why wasn't it coming off. >> she weighed more than 200 pounds when her doctor put her on a combination of two drugs. the app advertise suppresser and a drug to make patients feel full. >> within the first year i lost over 50 pound. >> a pill combines the two drugs called qnexa. now a food and drug administration panel is recommending it for approval. fda advisers rejected the drug in 2010 concerned about side effects, including heart problems and birth defect. but encouraging new findings eased their concerns. >> should everyone who is obese take qnexa? no. but many, many people will benefit. >> more than one out of every three adults in the united states is obese. but currently, there's only one fda approved drug for long-term weight loss. >> the fda has not approved a

diet drug since xenical more than a decade ago. she says people like her need more options. >> these are these two medications that worked so well for me. it was amazing for more people to be able to have access to this medication. >> she says the combo not only helped her lose weight, it helped her keep it off. randall pinkston, cbs news, new york. in other news, a manager at a drugstore in washington state decided to fight back against a would-be robber and it's all caught on surveillance tape. take a look. the suspect entered the store on tuesday demanding drugs, but the manager wasn't going to take it. so she took out a can of pepper spray and blasted him right in the face. the suspect was arrested a short time later after his friends called 9-1-1 because he was in incredible pain. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," former friends star, lisa kudrow. i'm betty nguyen. this is the thbs morning news. ". .

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. good morning. welcome to 9news now. today is thursday, february 23. i'm andrea roane. good morning. i'm mike hydeck. thanks for joining us. here is monika santami. good morning, monika. howard bernstein, we start with

you. we had a couple of showers overnight. by the way, if your nose or throats were bothering you, the tree pollen was high yesterday. weather wise let's get your day planner going now. we're looking at sunshine today. a couple more clouds later on. right now mostly cloudy, 51. we'll have a good deal of sunshine and a warm day. 60s by noon. we're going to mid up toker 60s. i put the 70 there because i think one, maybe two spots southwest of town could flirt with that 70-degree mark this afternoon. sun's up at 6:57. we had some slick spots. that's because we had some showers that came through. up north there were areas that didn't see anything. this morning we have a few showers out of west virginia but looks like they're going to have a tough time making it east of the mountains. we can see as we look at the radar, showers there. snow well to the north.

you have to go north of interstate 80. temps in the 40s and 50s. 43 manassas and culpeper. cumberland 52 for our friends in western maryland and on the bay, 53. look at these highs, spring like this afternoon. mid- to upper 60s again. wouldn't be surprised to see a car thermometer show 70 later o. here's monika with time saver traffic. thank so you much for that great news. things are looking good on the roads as well. you have a bit of leftover construction on the westbound side of 66 between the beltway and 123 and on the beltway through the tysons area but that should be cleared up shortly. there is one accident pretty far south but thought it would be worth mentioning. all the way southbound on i-95 after route 1 in spotsylvania involving a tractor-trailer. it's going to take a while to clear that up. otherwise a live look out of 95 in dale city as you can see nice and quiet here as you head

for springfield and 395. back to the maps and this time maryland. on the southbound side of 270 coming out of frederick, there are no problems to report on i- 70 or 270 toward germantown. a live look in rockville on 270 at montrose road. all lanes are open to the point where the lanes divide. more on area roadways at 4:39. jurors in the yeardley murder trial have recommended that george huguely receive 26 years in prison. the sentencing recommendation came hours after the jury convicted the former university of virginia lacrosse player of second-degree murder and grand larceny. >> if the judge follows the jury's recommendations, huguely would get 25 years for love's murder and one year for the grand larceny charge for stealing love's computer. the judge does not have to follow the jury's recommendation. huguely face as maximum sentence of 40 years for the murder charge and 20 years for the grant larceny. huguely was bound and openly

wept. he killed yeardley love in a drunken, jealous rage. most of the country followed the investigation and the huguely trial. >> especially those people with close ties to both families. we spoke with neighbors of both huguely and love. >> reporter: those who live near george huguely, sr. have been following the trial ever step of the way. -- every step of the way. now they're speaking out about their neighbor's son being a convicted killer. >> we're very sad that the family has gone through this. >> losing that child, going to the jail, that's really, really sad for their family, too. >> reporter: the 24-year-old grew up in chevy chase but would spend time with his father at his potomac home. those who remember yeardley love were also overcome by emotion aft guilty verdict of second-degree murder came down. >> i think it's deserved. i think the evidence is obvious. i'm surprised it took a year and a half to get there. >> reporter: one life violently taken. another ruined by a